Citizens’ mindset makes fighting corruption difficult, says Akande

Former Osun State Governor, Chief Adebisi Akande, has said successive administrations in Nigeria have failed to defeat corruption due to the mindset of Nigerians.

Akande, who spoke to journalists in his Ila-Orangun country home on Saturday as part of activities marking his 85th birthday, said until Nigerians have a change of mindset and embrace the virtues of dedication and hard work, no leader would be able to attack and defeat corruption in the country.

The pioneer interim national chairman of the All Progressives Congress, who lamented that rather than embracing hard work, many Nigerians would prefer to cut corners, said leadership alone could not make people prosperous.

He further said, “In Nigeria, corruption is not the first thing to fight otherwise you perish. The mindset is corrupt. The man who wants prosperity by miracle is corrupt. You want to own a car, or house by miracle; you are already a corrupt man.

“In a country where everybody is corrupt, who is that leader, who will bell the cat? So, you are only blaming the leader, but you are corrupt yourself. Go to a religious circle, everybody wants comfort without work.

“The present generation does not want to work. They want everything by miracle. Such a community can never be prosperous. No leader can make them prosperous. They will just be blaming the government. A country where everybody is corrupt like Nigeria; nobody can solve the problem.”

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